President Bush rushed to be with New Yorkers within days of the World Trade Center coming down, and it was there that he provided one of the most iconic moments of the war to date. Addressing an assembled crowd of recovery workers, the president was interrupted by shouts of “We can’t hear you.” In that moment he grabbed a bullhorn and yelled back to the crowd, “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon.” The president was right. He spoke on the same day that Congress passed the Use of Force Resolution, authorizing the president to retaliate against those nations or organizations he deemed responsible for, or complicit in, the attacks, and soon the Taliban regime at Afghanistan indeed heard America.

Congress has a similar opportunity to lead the nation today as it comes to New York for a ceremonial session, in the city that was once its seat, about four blocks from Ground Zero. It can take a stand against one of the countries leagued in this conspiracy — Iraq — which is racing to field new weapons of mass destruction and terror aimed at America. The president has warned against doing nothing. We had eight years of appeasement, during the Madeleine Albright era, and can scarcely afford even one more. As it passes this sacred ground, Congress could consecrate itself to the task of defending our nation by taking necessary preemptive actions against the regime at Baghdad. It is time for Congress to grab a bullhorn.